


Hungry for You

by Saengak



Series: AoMei collection [3]
Category: Naruto, Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tokyo Ghoul, F/M, Ghoul Cannibalism (Tokyo Ghoul)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2019-10-13 06:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17483084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saengak/pseuds/Saengak
Summary: They don't really care what the food chain dictates, but things are more complicated than that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just using Tokyo Ghoul's premise and not any of its characters. For those in the Naruto fandom who are not familiar with Tokyo Ghoul, the premise is that: (1) humans and ghouls exist, and (2) ghouls eat humans. Ethical conundrums, violence, and tragedy abound.
> 
> Here's quick (and not very accurate explanation) of some terms used:  
> Kagune: The predatory organ of ghouls, which they use to fight. They come out from the back and can be categorised into four types: ukaku (wing-like), koukaku (sword-like), rinkaku (tentacles) and bikaku (tail-like).  
> RC cells: Blood-like cells which make up kagune.  
> Kakugan: Ghoul eyes which appear as black sclera + red irises.  
> Kakuja: An evolved, powerful type of ghoul which have stronger/unique kagune. Ghouls can attain this evolution by eating other ghouls.  
> Commission of Counter Ghoul (CCG): Human organisation which kills, captures and suppresses ghouls.  
> Investigators/Doves: Humans which work for the CCG.  
> Quinque: Tools which humans use to fight ghouls. They're made from kagune harvested from dead ghouls and are kept in steel briefcases.

"Ao, Ao, look at this," Mei giggles as she shoves her phone into his face. 

He clasps her hand to pull the screen away, narrowing his eyes against the glare of the screen to focus on the tiny words. "Anglerfish?" he murmurs, letting Mei lead him through the dark, deserted streets by the arm that he'd wrapped around her waist. A glimpse of the deep sea creature's misshapen face makes him grimace. "I don't think it'll survive in our aquarium."

Mei rolls her eyes. "I  _know_ that. I was showing you the paragraph about how glowing bacteria in the anglerfish's lure help them attract prey." She holds her phone before her, shining the lit screen about to mimic the anglerfish's protruding lure. Ao snorts at her antics. "They have a symbiotic relationship, like us," Mei explains with a smirk and a waggle of her eyebrows.

"I resent being compared to bacteria," he says flatly. "And you're far to pretty to be some weird fish." He tries to give her a peck on the cheek but she bats him away, laughing.

As they head deeper into the abandoned residential area, Ao glances at the rundown alleys suspiciously. There were a spate of murders in this region just last week, but there doesn't seem to be anyone about tonight. Ao turns back to Mei, sighing. "Mei—"

"Hold my phone," she interrupts, her eyes glinting. "They're coming."

His gaze snaps up, but he cannot spot anything beyond the dim pools of yellow that the street lights have cast onto the rain-damp tarmac. "Hmm, be careful," Ao murmurs, slipping the device into his pockets as he withdraws his arm from her waist. 

Before she can reply, a shadow darts out of the dilapidated house to their right, flying straight at them like a bullet. Mei turns, mask already forming over her face, as she blocks the downwards sweep of a sword-like koukaku with a crimson tentacle sprouting from her lower back. The night lights up in a spray of orange sparks, showering them with stinging particles. 

The red-on-black eyes of the ghoul widens comically as he quickly falls back a safe distance away, holding his sword-arm as he eyes the two of them warily. "You're a ghoul," he observes quietly, his voice muffled by his leather mask. "He's with you?" 

Mei just shrugs as her kagune tentacles, four in total, wrap and meld against her curves to form a heavy set of armour. "You should have considered the possibility before you tried to take a bite," she says, confidence written in the tilt of her hip. Ao can almost image the smirk behind her fearsome, fanged mask. She looks like some kind of ancient samurai, Ao muses, though there is something supernatural about the way that her long auburn hair spills down her back, like a river of fire against the volcanic-black plates of her armour. ''He's mine," Mei declares, and Ao's heart pounds against his ribcage.

More ghouls have surrounded them. There are three by his count: two women, one with ukaku wings and the other with a bikaku tail, and another man, who has a koukaku sword like the first ghoul who had attacked them. Altogether, they appear to be a well rounded team.

They should be enough to feed Mei for half a month, at least.

The first ghoul holds up his free hand placating gesture, and lets his weapon-arm drop to his side in surrender. "Hey, no harm done." His gaze flickers from Ao to Mei with unease, clearly disturbed by Mei's protectiveness and Ao's lack of crying and begging. "We won't bother you and your pet anymore, yeah?"

"What the hell," one of the female ghouls retorts, her tail slamming into the ground angrily. "Yuro, you coward. It's four against one!"

"He smells tasty. I don't mind fighting for a bite," her friend giggles as she leers at Ao with blatant hunger. Her ukaku wings glitter in the moonlight as she sticks the tip of her tongue out and winks.

Ao scowls and resists the urge to shift under their scrutiny. His skin is crawling. It's different, somehow, when it's Mei pressing her nose against his neck and telling him how much he smells like a five-course meal. When he's with her, his survival instincts roll belly-up.

"You idiots," Yuro hisses, but Ao can already feel Mei's short temper flaring. Her very surroundings heat up when she's angry, and she exhales in streams of dense white fog.

In swift movement that startles everyone except Ao, she tosses her head and spits a thick wave of viscous liquid over nearest ghoul, sending her into pained shrieks as the unusual heat of Mei's RC cells plasters her to the ground and starts cooking her alive. Shouting, her friends leap to her rescue with barrage of blade-like ukaku feathers, but Mei deflects the projectiles easily with another burst of "lava" - as she calls it - from her mask. Her armoured hand seizes the bare blade of the second koukaku-user and with a swift jab of her knee, she shatters the facsimile sword into two. She hurls her portion towards the ukaku-user like a javelin, impaling the woman through the stomach and sending her crashing from the sky. The next second, the koukaku user also smashes into the ground, his neck broken by a good kick to the head and his skull leaking over the road like a cracked egg. 

It's all over in a blink of an eye. As Ao expected, these are only small fry compared to Mei. When she turns around, Yuro is scrambling away as fast as his legs can carry him.

"Will that be alright?" Ao asks, watching Yuro disappear with concern. "He saw your face."

Mei shakes her head, her red-black eyes blinking at him from the slitted eye-holes of her mask. "It's fine," she says, her voice distorted slightly. She rounds back and, ignoring the burnt ghoul's shrieking, decapitates each of the incapacitated ghouls with brutal efficiency. Ao swallows uncomfortably as he watches their heads roll, even though he knows that it is necessary. They have faced ghouls with freakish levels of regenerative capability before. 

Mei brushes herself off when she is done, her armour peeling away and turning back into her usual rinkaku tentacles before they disperse. Impatient, she breaks off the mask and crushes the shards in her hand. "The ghouls around town are aware about my existence anyway. This might be good for my street cred," she says jokingly. She smiles at him, her cheeks dimpling, as her sclera fades from the black it had been. "And it'll be good for your protection."

Ao exhales heavily through his nose and shakes his head in fond exasperation. He wishes he doesn't have to rely on Mei, but the average human has no chance against a ghoul. Every time he sees Mei dispatch other ghouls without breaking a sweat, he is relieved by her strength. He can't protect her, but she does well enough by herself. 

He'll just continue acting as a lure and keep her well fed. Symbiotic relationship, indeed. 

Mei draws him out of his thoughts with a brief press of her lips against his. "Hey. Pass me the backpack and I'll be done with this in a moment, yeah?"

He kisses her back and doesn't let his perturbation show on his face. "Sure." 

He goes to the side of the road and sits down on the curb, taking out Mei's phone to distract himself from the sounds of corpses being chopped up and packed away. Mei says he has a danger kink the size of Mount Fuji, and Ao can't really disagree when he's married to a predator of his kind, but corpse-processing is a bit much for his stomach. Even after all these years and a fridge dedicated Mei's meals, it still makes him queasy to imagine her eating. He just wishes he were a good enough liar that Mei doesn't know he still feels this way.

If Mei hadn't saved him all those years ago, he'd have long since died as some ghoul's supper. Mei hadn't completed her kakuja transformation then. She'd been half-mad with it, unable to go out in daylight for fear of losing her mind at the scent of people on the street, but by some fateful design, she'd been out hunting that night. She'd fought off the ghoul who had cornered Ao.

"I don't eat innocent humans," she'd gritted out between large bites of the ghoul she'd defeated. Shaking in the corner of the gore-splattered alley, Ao was in too much shock to do anything but stare.

She's a vigilante, Ao discovered later. A consumer of criminals, ghouls, and CCG officers. 

At first, it had been obligation (and his danger kink, as Mei likes to remind him) that kept him knocking on her apartment door. But between paying her utility bills and helping her collect special sugar cubes from her favourite coffee shop, something changed. When he lay in bed at night, he'd start worrying about her, out there in the dark fighting ghouls alone so she could eat back her sanity, piece by bloody piece. He'd dream of CCG officers swarming her apartment and wake up in cold sweat, his fingers itching for his phone so he could call her. It was utter insanity, Ao knew. She reminded him as much each time he turned up. But by then, he had already fallen for the tentative smiles that lit her eyes.

Does anyone really deserve to be made into food? Ao doesn't know. They are all still human in the ways that mattered, even ghouls.

Ao hates how their universe works, but he loves Mei more than anything. Even perhaps his own life.

"Deep thoughts?" 

His head snaps up and Mei's sad smile greets him. Clearing his throat, he stands and hand her her phone back. The screen had gone dark without him even noticing. "Just wondering whether I should try to glow in the dark next time," he says lightly. 

She chuckles weakly, fiddling with the strap of the backpack in an uncharacteristic show of nerves. "I'll string some lights on you. You'll look great."

Ao slips an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and determinedly not looking back at the mess that the road must be. He presses his nose against her hair, trying to find her sweet scent beneath the metallic stench in the air. "Don't be silly," he murmurs, glad when she relaxes against him. "C'mon, let's go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! :) I can't believe I need to say this but... disclaimer: I do not support cannibalism in real life. I am actually quite squicked, but the predator/prey dynamics of Tokyo Ghoul are too delicious— I mean, interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... This fic grew a plot... :P Happy Valentines everyone!

They wake up as they usually do _—_  with Mei plastered against his bare back and wrapped around him like an octopus.

"Mei," Ao murmurs, his voice tinged with amusement. "Time to let go. I have brats to teach."

"Mmm, don't want to," she whines, nuzzling against his back and enjoying the rumble of his voice. "You're mine." She hugs him tighter with both her arms and her extended kagune to punctuate her point, making him wheeze. 

" _Mei_ ," he gasps, pushing in vain at the tentacles constricting him. "My ribs."

"What about them, dear?" Pressing a kiss to the line of his shoulder blade, she tangles her kagune further around his limbs to trap his arms and legs as well. Ao groans in protest, straining against her grip to kick at her shins. Mei can't help but laugh. " _Ao._ " 

He huffs at the way she imitates his tone and peers over his shoulder, eyes narrowed in warning. "Five minutes, Mei. No bargaining." The twitching corner of his mouth gives him away.

With a satisfied sound, she buries her face between his shoulders and breathes in deep. There is no fear in his scent, only a languid contentment with a hint of exasperation, and she's suddenly in love all over again with her fearless husband.

Humans are so soft and fragile. His pale underbelly hollows with his shallow breaths, offering no protection at all to the collection of delicate organs laying vulnerable beneath her splayed hand. The curve of his ribs is a brittle shield, more liable to splinter into shards than to protect him against the crushing coils of her kagune. There's not a single part of his body that's strong enough to withstand her if she wants to make him bleed, yet...

He's still here, laying in her arms and relaxed enough to drift along the twilight between sleep and wakefulness. She holds his trust like she holds him now, tight with possessiveness but gentle with gratitude. The beat of his heart beneath her ear is a comfort; the rise and fall of his chest a lulling constant. She'd sooner die than to betray him; sooner starve than to make him bleed. 

When she's with him, she feels human.

The five minutes pass too quickly. At his pointed squirming, she loosens her grip reluctantly, bracing herself for the coldness that will creep in to replace him. But instead of leaving, he turns around and throws his arm around her. Nervousness sparks up her spine as he faces at her, the vestiges of insecurity and fear about the freakishness of her red-on-black eyes haunting her. 

There's nothing but gentleness in his gaze as he kisses her, however. "I have a meeting today, but I should be back by six."

Mei nips back at his lip. "I'll cook something for you."

He smirks. "Please follow a recipe this time."

Rolling her eyes, she pinches his arm lightly. "That was  _one_  time!"

"Tuna, with chocolate sauce!" Ao shudders.

Her face shines with mirth. "You ate it all though," she says, more softly than she intended. 

"Well, you had to accompany me to the faculty lunch, so it's more than fair," Ao replies, giving her another peck before slipping out of bed. "See you."

"Mm." She burrows back under the blankets, conserving their combined warmth, and watches him brush his teeth with a silly smile on her face.

*

Mei slides the flour coated shrimps and vegetables into Ao's fridge and stretches her arms, groaning as she rotates her neck. The shrimps had been difficult to peel, their shells slippery and sharp, but they're part of any tempura dish. She'll fry them before Ao comes back, cook some miso soup and rice, and they'll be all set. Humming along with the pop song playing on the radio, Mei sets about cleaning the kitchen. It doesn't require as thorough a cleaning as it had last night, after she'd dealt with  _her_ food, so she finds herself distracted.

For such a small kitchen, it's certainly odd that they have two fridges. If not for the risk of incurring further suspicion, Mei would have installed two sets of sinks as well, to keep their food entirely separate. Quite apart from wanting to avoid those queasy looks that Ao so hard to hide, cross-contamination is a real issue. Mei's robust immunity kills just about anything, but humans fall sick so easily. As it is, she makes liberal use of detergent and alcohol to sterilise everything. 

Mei gives the kitchen a critical once over when she's done and nods, satisfied. As long as no-one sneaks a peek into her fridge, it looks just about as normal as it can be. Now, maybe she can get started on that article Ao wanted her help proofread, or start writing the next chapter of her novel...

" _It's me, bitch!_ " Mei nearly shrieks when her phone suddenly blares out in her friend Tsunade's loud, drunken voice. "Get me another bottle!"

Groaning under her breath, Mei snatches up her phone before it can vibrate off the counter-top. Tsunade must have changed her ringtone without telling her, again. "You!" she growls.

"Ha, ha, like it?" Tsunade laughs on the other end of the line. "Tell me Ao is frowning over your shoulder right now."

Mei purses her lips. "He's at the uni today."

"Aww, you're pouting," Tsunade says. "Want me to come over?"

"You just want to steal my food," Mei protests, although she's already fluffing the pillows on the sofa. 

"If you just kept some sake, I wouldn't touch your food," Tsunade huffs. 

"I'm not buying you booze," Mei scolds. "It's unbecoming."

"Geez, when did the stick up Ao's arse go up yours? That's some real kinky stuff you're getting up to _—_ "

"Tsunade!" Mei drags her hand over her face in exasperation before remembering that she'd get wrinkles that way. She snatches her hand back and scowls. "Just come over. And get out by five, I'll have to air the room."

"Thanks babe." She can almost hear Tsunade's smug smirk. "I'm right downstairs."

"What?!" Mei squawks, but Tsunade laughs and hangs up. Sighing again, Mei goes to put on her coat. 

*

"I don't understand you can stand it," Tsunade says, inhaling deeply as she lounges in the sofa's soft embrace. 

Mei shrugs helplessly, waiting for the water to boil so they can have coffee. "Practice, I suppose." It's moreso the memory of Ao's terrified, blood-streaked face back in that dark little alley that stops her hunger in its tracks, though. She never wants him to look like that again, much less because of something she'd done.

Tsunade is polite enough, at least, that she refrains from salivating over Ao's scent overly much. Instead, she pads into the kitchen and starts rummaging around Mei's fridge. "Ew," she complains the moment she opens the first plastic container, her nose wrinkling in disgust. "You only have ghoul meat?"

"You know how hard it is to find the right humans..."

Tsunade scoffs and shoves the container back in with the others. "With a figure like that, Mei?"

"I'm not catfishing perverts, Tsunade," Mei says firmly, tucking her auburn hair behind her ear and fixing her friend with a stern look. 

The other ghoul shrugs. "Your loss."

Mei's brow crinkles in concern as she focuses on filtering the coffee. "You should be careful. They have ways to track your internet usage nowadays."

"I know. I have methods." With a wink, Tsunade plucks two cups from the cupboard, then the sugar. 

Mei snorts. "As if. You're probably using the hospital's computers and blaming it on the staff."

"That's what Orochimaru does."

The coffee nearly spills from her hands. "That snake-like freak? Catfishing?"

The buxom blonde shrugs. "It's the hair, I think."

Mei shudders and presses the heel of her hand to her forehead, her eyes fluttering closed. "I'm going to have nightmares."

"Tell me about it," Tsunade agrees dryly. 

Shaking her head silently, Mei finishes preparing the coffee and sips deeply from it. It's bitter as always, even after a generous helping of sugar. She has learnt to not hate it, even when it reminds her of her teenage years. She'd been a shaking, caffeine-addicted wreck back then, desperate to feel more human, even just a little. But it doesn't work that way.

"Hey," Tsuande says, setting down her own coffee on the counter and reaching for the pocket of her jeans. "This was your mailbox. I thought you probably wouldn't want anyone to see."

Feeling as if ice had been doused over her, Mei accepts the crinkled envelope. The stylised waves of Kiri have been stamped over back of the envelope, stark black on white. Within the boundaries of each of the four S-shaped waves, the whites and blacks form an intricate, circular pattern reminiscent of overlapping ripples. It's real.

"Was there anyone there?" Mei asks urgently, raising it to her nose. There's a trace of sweat from handling the paper, but it's no-one she recognises. But then, she has been gone a long time. 

Her friend shakes her head. Her golden eyes are solemn. "Didn't smell of anyone either."

Dread curls low in her stomach. "Excuse me," Mei mumbles apologetically before heading for her bedroom, shutting the door behind her and bracing her back against it. She tears open the flap of the envelope with trembling hands, almost ripping into its contents in her haste. With her heart thudding in her throat, she reaches inside. 

They're photos. Glossy sheets of thick rectangular paper, tacky under her fingers and smelling of sour ink. They're all of Ao going about his day. 

Commuting, with his head bowed over his phone. 

Walking across the university grounds. 

Eating in the canteen. 

Taking the lift. 

The glossy frames slip through her shaking hands, spilling onto the ground as she sucks in a terrified gasp. They are stalking him all the way to work and then back home, even getting into the same lift. They could have killed him right then and there. 

But they hadn't. Instead, they'd taken these photos of him, and sent them to her... 

Mei falls down on her knees and gathers all the photos together with quick sweeps of her hand. She flips each one of them until she finds a message written on on the photo of Ao having lunch in the canteen:  _"Don't play with your food."_

In a flash, Mei is on her feet and tearing open the door, intent on running off to the campus right now. Who know what they'd already done to him? Her mind spins in dizzying circles and she's caught in the quicksand of her memories.

Kiri offers no mercy.

“Whoa, Mei! What happened?" Tsunade blocks the door and Mei snarls in panic.

"Out of the way!" 

The other ghoul's expression hardens. "Sit down and talk to me. You can't go out in this state. Your kakugan is showing!" 

Mei's hand shoots up to her face, her shock dislodging her from her spiralling thoughts. It has been years since she'd involuntarily shown her kakugan. Shaken at how easily she could have outed herself, she allows Tsunade to steer her onto the sofa. 

"They know," Mei whispers, wringing her hands. "About Ao..."

"You're sure it's Kiri?"

Mei nods mutely. Kiri was the ghoul syndicate that raised her; she'd know them anywhere. She'd been part of them all the way up to her twenties, until she couldn't stand the guilt of treating people - people who looked and cried and loved just like  _her_  - like walking pieces of meat anymore. When she left, she'd done her best to cut all her ties, even going so far as to use a false identity.

"They're going to kill him!" she whimpers. "They're going to tear him apart...!"

"Leave, then," Tsunade says fiercely. "Take him and get out of this place." 

"But Ao..." Mei murmurs, guilt crashing over her. The life he'd built for himself, his career and his friends, they're all here. But now, because of her...

Tsunade's hand is hot as a brand when it grips on her shoulder. "Don't think about that. Calm down, and we'll go check on him at the uni. I'll give Jiraiya a call, and we'll figure something out. Okay?"

Mei nods as she gets up on shaky legs. "I'll go get our emergency bag. We packed our documents and money in advance..."

"Good. Don't forget your sunglasses too."

Numbess washes over her when she shuts the bedroom door behind her again, her gaze landing on the scattered photos on the ground. "Oh god," she whispers, pressing her hand over her trembling mouth. "We're never coming back, are we?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 on the way soon!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said "soon" but uh... I guess that means a month :P

"Mizushima-sensei."

Ao pauses in his presentation, thumb frozen over the clicker in his hand. "Yes?" Ao asks, surprised. His students are usually so quiet. He has to take a moment to locate the owner of the voice, what with the projector doing its best to blind him. It's a young man slumped indolently near the back of the lecture theatre, hand raised slightly above his spiky shock of silver hair, as if he couldn't muster the energy to fully straighten his arm. 

The young man smiles behind the white mask covering the lower half of his face and gives a casual wave. "I read your paper:  _'Ghouls and the Right to Life'_. You defended the ghoul's right to life, and other rights such as the right against torture, on the basis of natural law. But do ghouls not go against natural law themselves because they consumer humans to survive?"

"Thank you for your question,...?" 

"Hatake," the student offers, sitting forward and steepling his fingers.

"Hatake-san," Ao repeats, wondering if he is related to _the_ famous Hatake family. "Thank you for your question. I'm glad someone actually read my paper," he chuckles self-deprecatingly and the lecture theatre titters in amusement. He sets the clicker down and grips the edges of the lectern, his mind briefly flashing to Mei before coming back to the question. "Well, it depends on your conception of natural law. The belief that humans should not kill others is premised on the sanctity of life, and to some extent, equality between human beings. On the other hand, we do not extend the same considerations of sanctity of life and equality to animals, because they are necessary for our survival. We kill and eat animals because it is part of our nature. 

"So what is natural law to ghouls? Leaving considerations of humanity and equality aside, it is clear that they cannot survive without consuming human flesh. So, are they not doing what is natural to them? If we do not put a lion on trial for tearing into a deer, or judge a wolf for hunting down a rabbit, then why do we not extend that logic to ghouls?" Ao smiles grimly. "What we are experiencing now is an instinctive desire to defend our own survival, not a logical response."

Turning back to the projector screen, he clicks back several slides to show the list of fundamental human rights and their corresponding articles. "Right now, we are using these rights as tools to justify what we do to survive against our predators. That's fine. But shouldn't there be something more? Tell me, why do you want to have a right against torture, Hatake-san?"

The young man shrugs. "It's inhumane. Degrading."

"Exactly," Ao replies. "As humans, we have an ability to experience emotions and physical pain. We can feel humiliation and despair. These rights were created to recognise and respect the fact that we are intelligent enough to have a concept of dignity. If we denounce ghouls for violating our right to life and causing us suffer, but do the same to them when we capture, imprison, experiment on and kill them, then we're all hypocrites. We should stop embarrassing ourselves by talking about these rights as if they're universal principles, and start acknowledging that we're equally complicit in this battle for survival."

The lecture theatre is silent. The young man who had asked the question folds his hands under his chin, his brow drawn. Ao takes a slow sip of water, well aware that he had just incited great controversy. His students would either love him or hate him, as does the faculty, but that is inevitable. He self-censors enough as it is.

Ao clears his throat. "I'd be happy to discuss further after class. Let's move on."

* * *

"Thanks for your impassioned response, Mizushima-sensei," says the Hatake when the lecture is concluded. He leans his hip against the lectern and gives Ao another eye-smile. 

The older man closes his laptop with a scoff. "It was hardly impassioned. Questions, Hatake-san?"

"Not really." The silver-haired youth sticks out his hand instead. "I wanted to apologise for barging into your class without informing you first. I'm Hatake Kakashi, CCG Ghoul Investigator. My pleasure to meet you."

Ao shakes Kakashi's hand, forcing a smile onto his face. Now that he's up close, he can see the distinctive eyepatch half-hidden behind the investigator's messy silver hair. "You look much sterner in the newspaper, Investigator Hatake. Congratulations on your promotion to Associate Special Class."

Kakashi flaps his hand in a way that's entirely unbecoming. "Pfft. It's no big deal. Just more paperwork and more baby investigators to train."

"So," Ao asks cautiously, "has something happened in the uni? I can't imagine you'd have much time for academics..."

"On the contrary! My trainees are always asking difficult questions, so I needed an expert opinion for some guidance."

"I do hope I've been of some help," Ao replies, pleased despite himself. "Even though it's just theory." It's dangerous to attract attention from the CCG - Ao has no doubt a blacklist for pro-ghoul supporters exists - but it's a sweet thing to break out of the small circle that is academia. It can get boring sometimes. 

"Of course. Say, sensei, let me treat you to lunch. I haven't paid school fees after all." With a wink that might just be a blink, Kakashi is escorting Ao out of the lecture theatre. "There's this rad new place nearby..."

"I can't possibly trouble you--" 

"Nonsense," Kakashi insists, smiling. "It's no trouble at all."

"Very well," Ao concedes, now certain that this is an investigation in disguise. "Thank you." He palms the phone in his pocket, wondering whether it'd be too obvious if he messaged Mei. He doesn't mind seeming whipped, but who knows if the CCG is monitoring his messages right now? He hesitates, distracted by the Hatake's constant stream of small talk. If everything goes to hell, Mei should be able to deduce what had happened to him, right?

"You know, my father used to say the same thing about ghouls."

Ao discards his plans with a mental sigh. Mei will be alright. "About... their rights?"

"Not in those words," Kakashi says, his shoulders hunching a little as he stares across the carpark, his single grey eye slightly glazed. "But he always insisted that ghouls had humanity too. His work tortured him as much it rewarded him, but no-one would let him stop because he was so good at it."

Under the light of the blazing sun, Ao can see the ghost of the nation's most famous investigator clearly in Kakashi's somber features. "I'm sorry," Ao murmurs, and he truly is. Until this day, no-one really knows of why Hatake Sakumo had killed himself, but it is clear that what Kakashi had revealed had something to do with it.

The young Hatake peers up at him from under his fringe of messy silver hair, a deep sorrow hidden behind a mask of indifference. His shoulders twitch in a shrug and he looks away. "He made his choices. Ah, here we are."

Ao is just about to get in Kakashi's car - not a police car, thank goodness - when a battered old Suzuki pulls into the carpark at a startling speed. Ao frowns, ready to berate the driver in his head, when he realises that the driver looks suspiciously like Mei's alcohol chugging friend. And is that...? 

"Ao!" Mei shouts, not even bothering to slam the door before running to him.

"Mei?" Ao stares at her in confusion, worry rising up at Mei's pale expression. "What's wrong?" He jogs forward to meet her, angling his body to shield her from Kakashi's inquisitive eyes. They can't break the act now...!

Mei clutches at him the moment they come close enough, her hands tight enough around his biceps to bruise. "Ao," she mumbles, looking him over from head to toe with wild eyes before exhaling in relief. "We've got to go. _Right now._ "

"But--"

Ao feels the moment she notices Kakashi, her entire body going stiff as a board against him. "Who's that?" she hisses, redoubling her efforts to drag him away. Ao digs in his heels, both literally and metaphorically, determined to prevent a scene. 

"Mei, calm down," he pleads, but she just tugs at him harder, showing more strength than she should be. _"Mei!"_

"Hey, is everything okay?" Kakashi calls, striding leisurely towards them with his hands in his pockets. 

"Yes," Ao replies, a little bit too quickly and with a sharper tone than he intended. He turns back to Mei, who's still glaring at Kakashi. "Mei, it's the middle of the workday," Ao pleads, grimacing as he resists the painful grip she has on his wrist. "Did something happen at home? Did you see a ghoul?"

Mei's eyes snap to him, momentarily startled by the mention of "ghoul". 

"Hatake-san is a CCG officer, we can ask him for help," Ao adds, trying to his best to hint to her the danger they're in.

Kakashi gives a mock salute. "At your service, m'am."

"N-no," Mei stutters, her gaze flicking towards Kakashi. "No ghoul, sir. It's just that..."

"Her mother's critically ill," Tsunade cuts in saying, slamming the car door before rounding it to stand before them. "She only has a few hours left."

Ao stares at the blonde in shock. As far as he knows, Mei is an orphan. But Mei hides her mouth demurely behind her hand, her eyes squeezing shut in what seems like genuine grief. "Oh," Ao murmurs, closing the space between them embrace her tentatively. "Mei dear, I'm so sorry..."

"Let's go now," Mei pleads, her seaglass green eyes fixed on the ground and beginning to seem alarmingly damp.

"Alright," Ao murmurs, shocked by how emotional she's being. Regardless of the truth of that story about her mother, she wouldn't be like this if something terrible hadn't happened. He turns back to Kakashi, giving him an apologetic grimace. "I'm sorry, Hatake-san. I'll have to take a rain check."

"Of course," Kakashi says easily, taking out his phone and tapping without bothering to glance down at it. "Please don't worry about me."

Ao nods in thanks and lets Mei lead him to the car, the two of them clambering into the backseat and Tsunade into the driver's. The ghoul investigator smiles and raises his hand in farewell, his phone already pressed to his ear. "Mei," Ao murmurs, reaching for the door handle to tug it closed, "are you alri--?"

Something slams against the door with a loud bang. "Sir!"

Ao yelps in shock and turns, eyes flying wide when he comes face to face with the brown haired girl who had suddenly appeared and wrenched the door from his hand. "What--!"

"Get out!" Mei shouts, throwing an arm over Ao's chest. "How _dare_ you!"

The girl ignores her and draws a quinque from the belt of her CCG combat vest. "Sir," she barks, her determined eyes boring into his with alarming intensity. "Are you aware your wife is ghoul?"

Both Ao and Mei freeze. At the front, Tsunade curses softly. 

"Rin," Kakashi says quietly, though Ao barely hears him through the blood rushing in his ears. "He knows."

"We've had cases where they've been lied to for years!" Rin shouts, not breaking eye contact with Ao. Her eyes are blazing golden, her boot jammed against the door and her quinque coming to life in her hand-- a three-tailed bikaku. "Sir, _are you aware_?"

Ao's mouth opens but no sound comes out. 

"Fuck this!" Tsunade yells, jamming her foot down on the accelerator. The car jerks into motion like bucking horse and both Ao and Mei scream, clutching at each other and scrabbling against the synthetic leather of the seat. They barely keep themselves from tumbling out of the open door.

In their panic, Ao catches a glimpse of the young investigator in the side mirror. Her petite form curls into a tuck-and-roll as her quinque pierces its tails into the ground, cushioning her fall. She springs up in an instant, the flex of her quinque propelling her, and dashes after them at a superhuman speed. Behind her, Kakashi has sprinted towards his car and thrown the door open. 

"Watch your hands!" Tsunade shouts, swerving like a madwoman. The motion swings door shut in Ao's face, making him flinch back violently. Something heavy keeps him anchored in the seat as Tsunade works the gas pedal and brakes in rapid succession, bringing them out of the carpark and onto the road. With gritted teeth and a quick hand on the steering wheel, she pulls into the traffic amidst a cacophony of honks.

Looking down, Ao realises that it's one of Mei's rinkaku tentacles laying over his chest and wrapping around the headrest of his seat, as if to replace the seatbelt that he hadn't had the time to put on. Mei herself is braced over him protectively, her rinkaku tentacles pressed against the ceiling, front seat, and door. The sclera of her eyes are a stark black, fine red veins tracing from the rims of her eyes as she glares out of the rear windshield, teeth bared in a snarl. 

Ao swallows around the lump in his throat. Cold sweat trickles down the dip of his spine as he lays a trembling hand over her kagune, feeling it throb against his chest. Several strands of her auburn hair have caught between his fingers, soft like silk and quite unlike the hard, interlocking scales of her predatory organ. 

At his touch, Mei glances down. Her face is stricken with fear and regret. "I'm sorry, Ao. I'm so sorry."

"No, no. Don't be." He reaches for her hand and she entwines her fingers with his, the both of them clutching at each other as if the other were the last thing left in the world. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ao is "Mizushima-sensei" because he does not have a last name in canon. Mizushima basically means "water" + "island".
> 
> Also, disclaimer about Ao's "natural law" argument. I tried to make a good argument but ah... my understanding of "natural law" is probably full of mistakes.
> 
> Hopefully next chapter will also be "soon" :P


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, it's been a long time! Sorry for the long wait!

"So  _both_ the CCG and your ghoul syndicate are after us?" Ao asks in disbelief. The backing of his phone comes off with a crack, exposing its electronic innards. He plucks the battery out and sets it onto the floor with the rest of the phone, now nothing more than a husk. "Damn," he whispers, his eyes flitting to the photos in Mei's lap again.

Mei nods, her lip caught between her teeth as she tucks the photos away. "I'm not sure what's going on either..." Reaching for her duffel bag, she unzips it and plucks out the pistol that she'd stowed away at the bottom. Ao accepts the contraband gingerly, closing his fingers over the matte black barrel before giving the safety a quick check. Looking pale and disturbed, he sets it on the floor together with the scattered components their dismantled phones, making sure to point its muzzle away from anyone in the car. "You replaced our old gun," he observes.

"Oh, you noticed," Tsunade says, sounding surprised. A road sign flits overhead, signalling their imminent exit from Tokyo.

Ao frowns. "Of course."

Mei bites her lip. "Jiraiya owed me a favour. I had him pass me a better one."

Frustration flickers to life in Ao's eyes briefly before it fades into resignation. "I see."

Mei understands. As much as she tries to include Ao in her small circle of ghoul friends, they tend to exclude him when anything more serious than small talk comes up. Any favours, deals, or gossip regarding the ghoul underground is only spoken of when Ao is not at home. At the very most they'd have a few whispers when he's in another room, but the topic would quickly be changed when he passes by. It might be lack of trust, or simply habit borne from a lifetime of persecution, but hurtful to her husband nonetheless. Mei shares as much as she can with Ao, but she also has to respect her friends' wishes.

"Where are we going?" he asks Tsunade as Mei zips the bag closed and sits back.

The blonde woman looks up into the rear view mirror. "One of Jiraiya's meeting points. He's sending someone to meet us."

"And then?" Ao presses, his fisted hands crumpling his slacks. "Where are we going to hide?"

Tsunade's honey-gold eyes flicker to Mei. "Konoha's out, Mei. Sarutobi-sensei's probably behind this. Even I can't protect you now. His fondness for me only goes so far."

Mei gapes. "Why would Sarutobi want to target us?"

"You're from Kiri. No, I know you left," her friend replies in exasperation. "But that's not what sensei thinks. And there are only so many ghouls who have achieved kakuja transformation. You're going to make an exceptional quinque." Her expression softens when Mei grimaces. "Sorry."

"So you think it's a turf war between Konoha and Kiri?"

"Wait,  _wait!_ " Ao interrupts. "Are you talking about Sarutobi Hiruzen? The Head of the CCG?" He stares between them, looking so stunned that Mei and Tsunade exchange guilty glances.

"Brace yourself," Tsunade warns slightly facetiously, "this is going to be a life-changing revelation."

Ao gives her a withering look. "Just tell me."

Mei sighs. She had hoped to never speak of this. "The CCG is controlled by Konoha, the ghoul syndicate that Tsunade used to be part of."

The look of horror that dawns on Ao's face makes Mei's stomach twist. "You can't be serious." The silence that fills the car confirms everything. "Sarutobi," Ao says slowly. "Sarutobi fucking Hiruzen."

"That's my sensei!" Tsunade confirms with hollow cheer.

Ao sits there stiffly for a long moment, his gaze sliding to the endless road before them. Then, he starts laughing, a low, incredulous kind of laughter that makes the hairs on the nape of Mei's neck stand. He scrubs a hand over his face before letting it drop into his lap, limp. "We've been living a lie.  _I've_ been living a lie." Pained at the anguish in his voice, Mei reaches for him, but he flinches back, unable to look at her. It's a small gesture, unconscious and barely there, but it sends a chill through Mei's chest.

Is this it? Is this going to be the end of them?

"Were Hatake and the other woman ghouls too? She seemed so..."

"No, they were human," Tsunade confirms. "No one knows the truth except a select few, and now you. You are not to speak of this to anyone."

"They're being lied to!" Ao shouts in a sudden explosion of volume that makes Mei flinch. "They're giving up their lives, thinking that they're fighting for humanity, while they're being controlled by the very enemy they're fighting!"

_Enemy._  The word is like a knife in Mei's heart. She searches his face, trying to find something other than the hurt and anger that's suffusing his face.

"All this is to keep us complacent, isn't it?" Ao breathes, realisation dawning terrible on him. "All this persecution and cruelty towards ghouls and spending on quinque development. The real players have already won." He looks down at his hands. "We're all just fools squabbling amongst ourselves, picking over the scraps to stay alive." His nails dig into the palms of his hands; the look in his eyes one that Mei has never seen before.

"Ao..."

He finally looks at her. There's fear lurking in the dark depths of his eyes. "Where are we going to hide?" he asks, again.

"Your best bet is with a ghoul syndicate," Tsunade says quietly, her eyes on the highway.

"Are you saying that I should go back to Kiri?" Mei snarls. "They're threatening Ao!"

"None of the big five will accept a member of another syndicate, even if they've defected for years. None of the smaller gangs will risk their necks by going against a larger syndicate. You have to be practical, Mei."

" _I am_ ," Mei hisses. "Do you think Yagura is going to be anymore lenient than his predecessor?"

"Maybe if you swear loyalty."

"That's a big "if"," Mei retorts, throwing up her hands.

Tsunade scowls. "You can't be on the run forever. It's not like the old days anymore, where you can just move on to the next village and invent a new identity. I know you're worried about Ao, but you have to be practical."

"Can't Jiraiya do something?" Mei pleads. "I'll work for him. We'll disappear for a few years, then come back when the furore dies down. Won't that work?"

Tsunade looks apologetic. "We're on thin ice, babe. Sarutobi-sensei has been closing in on us too. Orochimaru's putting up a good fight, but he wants us back in the CCG." She glances over at her side mirror, switches lanes, and continues on with a sigh. The road rumbles beneath them, and her grip on the steering wheel is white-knuckled. "Mei... If he gets what he wants, I'll be Head of CCG. And I'll do it, Mei, if only to keep Danzou out of the seat. What I'm saying is... I'm as good as CCG personnel now. There's only so much I can do."

They fall once more into silence.  _So this is how it is_ , Mei thinks sadly. Her shoulders droop. "Alright. Fine."

A wan smile flickers over her lips. "Sorry."

Mei sighs. "Ao—" she looks at him and is startled by the look of betrayal on his face.

"You should eat me now."

"What?" Mei pitch rises in incredulity and he expression shutters further, becoming a blank mask.

"You're going back to Kiri. "Don't play with your food", right?" His jaw clenches but he forges on. "Do it. Eat me now. Leave me some dignity and don't do it in front of them."

"I am  _not_ eating you," Mei snaps, wanting to shake some sense into him. Tsunade glances between them warily. "If Kiri wants me to do that, we're getting out of there, do you understand? You staying alive is a non-negotiable. You're my  _husband,_  for goodness sake!"

"But, you said—"

"We're going to Kiri in order to get the CCG - Konoha - off our backs, and only because of that."

"But if you don't eat me and Kiri doesn't let you stay—" His distressed gaze flickers to the window, as if he's trying to spot an escape route.

"Then we'll stay on the run until we find another solution. I'm not letting you die," Mei states firmly. She reaches out and grasps his hand, trying to convey all her love through her touch. "I can't live without you."

"Don't say such things!" he protests immediately, as he usually does when she says something fatalistic. Unable to help herself, Mei hugs him, burying her face in the crook of his neck to hide the tears gathering in her eyes. After a long pause, he relaxes and embraces her back tentatively, his chin coming to rest lightly on top of her head. "Mei, I..."

She squeezes him tighter, her heart breaking at the hesitation in his voice. "We'll be okay, Ao. I promise you."


End file.
